Ian Punnett

[Usagi]

I've never been unduly harassed by a cop and I deeply appreciate the safer and cleaner world I get to live in thanks to them.  They should have more power.

[anagrammy]

I've never been unduly harassed by a cop and I deeply appreciate the safer and cleaner world I get to live in thanks to them.  They should have more power.

My son (the one with schizophrenia) was disrespectful to law enforcement in some way that is not clear to me, but he didn't break any laws, wasn't legally drunk but had been drinking (he doesn't drive).  This was winter in Utah, so they put him in a cop car and drove him up into the mountains and dropped him off without a jacket.  Maybe they didn't know he was disabled, but it doesn't matter.  What they did risked his life.  Fortunately, he found his way to a main road and a compassionate motorist drove him home.  Ever since this happened he has been absolutely terrified of the police.  If they are visible anywhere, he will not leave his apartment.  If they show up where he is in public, he goes home. 

Power corrupts and anyone with power needs accountability and checks and balances. 

Anagrammy

[Usagi]

anyone with power needs accountability and checks and balances. 

Anagrammy

Absolutely agree with you on this.

[Eddie Coyle]

         Enviroment plays a major role in perception. I'm from the dreaded "inner city", where police presence is overbearing and ubiquitous and often feckless. I've had way too many experiences of being harrassed by cops to ever think highly of them. Walking home from work at 3am, there were countless flashlight in the face,"what are you doing here?" queries from bored oinkers looking for trouble. I'm smart enough to shut my mouth and not make myself subject further probing. Usually after 2-3 minutes of their power-tripping I'm free to leave.

      However, on multiple occasions, I've had the indignity of being "held under suspicion"-without arrest. Three times I've been detained by cops in the back of their squad cars for the very dubious "there was a report of...and YOU fit the description". These three occurrences were 45 minutes, 1 hour and the worst being 2 hours. The two hour one(May 27,1995) I was 19 and was held as a "suspect" in the armed robbery of a convenience store. I "fit the description" according to the patrol officer. I was held from 11pm to 1am, when suddenly an older Arab man looks at me and says "NO-That's not him, no way"....then I was free to leave.

       The kicker...the kid who did the crime, I knew personally. He was about 27, 5'9" and roughly 140lbs. Total junkie.  At the time...I was 19, 6'1" 220lbs. Yeah, I "fit the description" alright.

      Never trusted them ever since, never will again.

[anagrammy]

Your post reminded me of a true horror story from the news in Utah when I lived there.  An average joe, father of five, stopped at a convenience store to buy a drink on his way home from work.  A few days later he was arrested at work.  He had been "identified" from a surveillance tape and the store had been robbed later the same day he was there. 

The store clerk picked him out as the person who robbed the store!  She said she "recognized" him from the tape.  The police grilled him for hours, saying he was casing the place when he stopped to buy a drink.

I recall he was held until he could prove he didn't do it.  Fortunately, he had made a couple of other stops on his way home and his wife was able to find the receipts in the car.

WTF?  We now have to prove we DIDN'T do something?  After he got out, the guy was visibly shaken and said he had lost confidence in the police and the justice system.  He said they just wanted to catch somebody and didn't believe him or his wife--this with a squeaky clean record and NO MOTIVE!

Anagrammy

[Eddie Coyle]

Your post reminded me of a true horror story from the news in Utah when I lived there.  An average joe, father of five, stopped at a convenience store to buy a drink on his way home from work.  A few days later he was arrested at work.  He had been "identified" from a surveillance tape and the store had been robbed later the same day he was there. 

The store clerk picked him out as the person who robbed the store!  She said she "recognized" him from the tape.  The police grilled him for hours, saying he was casing the place when he stopped to buy a drink.

I recall he was held until he could prove he didn't do it.  Fortunately, he had made a couple of other stops on his way home and his wife was able to find the receipts in the car.

WTF?  We now have to prove we DIDN'T do something?  After he got out, the guy was visibly shaken and said he had lost confidence in the police and the justice system.  He said they just wanted to catch somebody and didn't believe him or his wife--this with a squeaky clean record and NO MOTIVE!

Anagrammy

    I was fortunate that the clerk was not in hysterics and actually sounded rather annoyed with the cops,like "what are you showing me THIS GUY for?"

    Here's a funny angle. I shut my mouth, didn't resist at all(despite being furious) because I knew that if I mouthed off I was opening the door to further scrutiny...like a pat-down. Which would have been bad news because I had a switchblade on me. Since I shut my mouth and just sat in the back of the cruiser without a peep, the cops basically limited their actions to a constant series of questions. I'm thankful that they were lazy...

[anagrammy]

    I was fortunate that the clerk was not in hysterics and actually sounded rather annoyed with the cops,like "what are you showing me THIS GUY for?"

    Here's a funny angle. I shut my mouth, didn't resist at all(despite being furious) because I knew that if I mouthed off I was opening the door to further scrutiny...like a pat-down. Which would have been bad news because I had a switchblade on me. Since I shut my mouth and just sat in the back of the cruiser without a peep, the cops basically limited their actions to a constant series of questions. I'm thankful that they were lazy...

No kidding you lucked out!

Ana

[Eddie Coyle]

No kidding you lucked out!

Ana

      Luck and guile. I know they can "jam you up" for the slightest thing if you give them half a chance. I gave them the old "I understand this is part of your job,officer" response. Being an activist that night would have caused a lot of trouble for me.

[Seamus Capone]

Indeed, and all under the ruse of "security". Those cameras nailing people going through red lights at empty intersections at 3am...vital to our safety! Take those cameras down and the terrorists win!

That hits a bit close to home. Not that I condone running mistimed red lights at midnight after five cycles have passed, and there's no traffic in sight. (wink, nod)

[General Johnson Jameson]

I'm going to give Ian an honest listen-to tonight. Not that the topic interests me, but I figured I would give him another chance.
These psychic twins are really starting to annoy me. I've heard about these broads before. Ugh, stale as a Noory fart and even less interesting.

[Seamus Capone]

I'm going to give Ian an honest listen-to tonight. Not that the topic interests me, but I figured I would give him another chance.
These psychic twins are really starting to annoy me. I've heard about these broads before. Ugh, stale as a Noory fart and even less interesting.

It would be a triple whammy if the Numbers Lady called during their segment. Let's just hope that Knapp won't interview Sylvia Brown on his next show.

[General Johnson Jameson]

Hello Jethro, it's good to know that I am not alone. Although I cannot stand these crazy bitches another minute. Ahhh! it's ending as I type.
"The end of logical intelligence is over". One of them just now said that...wtf.

I've never heard two people discredit themselves faster than what just happened.
Claiming to be held in higher regard than Nostradamus..I mean, no shit?
I think I heard one say that George Cloony is gay. What more do we need? These bitches are legit! Great Scott!

[Seamus Capone]

Hello Jethro, it's good to know that I am not alone. Although I cannot stand these crazy bitches another minute. Ahhh! it's ending as I type.
"The end of logical intelligence is over". One of them just now said that...wtf.

I've never heard two people discredit themselves faster than what just happened.
Claiming to be held in higher regard than Nostradamus..I mean, no shit?
I think I heard one say that George Cloony is gay. What more do we need? These bitches are legit! Great Scott!

I gotta admit that I skipped that segment. I might even skip tonight's main feature. My better half is in charge tonight, so I have a feeling that I won't be warming up the Bose. Of course, that's often the case whether I'm in charge or not. ;-)

[General Johnson Jameson]

I would even go as far as to not include it in the archives it was so fail. Although, I do support archiving it for research purposes.

[General Johnson Jameson]

I gotta admit that I skipped that segment. I might even skip tonight's main feature. My better half is in charge tonight, so I have a feeling that I won't be warming up the Bose. Of course, that's often the case whether I'm in charge or not. ;-)

I'm out at the two hour mark.
This guy sorta reminds me of Ed Dames.

[valdez]

[

I'm going to give Ian an honest listen-to tonight. Not that the topic interests me, but I figured I would give him another chance....These psychic twins are really starting to annoy me..Claiming to be held in higher regard than Nostradamus..I mean, no shit?
I think I heard one say that George Cloony is gay.

I gotta admit that I skipped that segment. I might even skip tonight's main feature.

This guy sorta reminds me of Ed Dames.

    Howard Wadsin, navy seal, was a little too "aw shucks" for me.  I was hoping for "gun-ho psycho let me tell you about all the people I killed", but theres something about Linda and Terry Jamison, the psychic twins, that I like.  I'll just leave it there.
 

the psychic twins

[Gassy Man]

I'm often disappointed at how relatively little actually gets discussed when Ian hosts the show . . . he spends a great deal of time informing us of his opinion on various subjects, slowly and self-importantly with his strange, nasally stutter, and it's remarkable in a troubling way how his questions frequently take up about as much time to ask as the guest does to answer them . . . he sucks the air out of the room even if he is intelligent, almost a parody of the cliched academic.  Sometimes he is on point, and he's still miles ahead of George Noory, but I can't conceive of listening to Coast to Coast if he hosts the show more than once weekly.

[Avi]

I'm with you in spirit, Gassy Man (though not in person, thankfully, if your moniker describes the true state of affairs). Ian's buttons get pushed too easily, and then he becomes too angry, talking over the guest and bloviating. To be fair, I do like it when he lays the hammer down on the excessively woo-woo (Steve Quayle must have thought he was on the wrong show), but Ian has had guests that he simply could not interview because of his own issues. John Lash comes to mind as an example. Lash is a sort of Arthurian mythologist with a Terrence McKenna element (better living through plant chemistry), but Ian just could not get over the fact that the guy was an agnostic and spent the interview berating Lash, rather than exploring his ideas - which are quite interesting. 

[onan]

it's remarkable in a troubling way how his questions frequently take up about as much time to ask as the guest does to answer them . . . a parody of the cliched academic.  ... he's still miles ahead of George Noory.

This precisely sums up my take on Ian Punnet. As smart as he presents, it is confusing that he doesn't see how he detracts from the interview.

[b_dubb]

i'll concede that he does talk a lot.  the guy's had a lot of schooling.  his ego must be tied up in his intellect.  and maybe that's why he talks as much as he does

[Scully]

... it's remarkable in a troubling way how his questions frequently take up about as much time to ask as the guest does to answer them . . . he sucks the air out of the room even if he is intelligent, almost a parody of the cliched academic. 

This precisely sums up my take on Ian Punnet. As smart as he presents, it is confusing that he doesn't see how he detracts from the interview.

i'll concede that he does talk a lot.  the guy's had a lot of schooling.  his ego must be tied up in his intellect.  and maybe that's why he talks as much as he does

This wraps up my need to both characterize and analyze why Ian attracts me and repels me at the same time. My dad, a noticeably intelligent graduate of the 8th grade, would have called him an educated idiot. 

[Seamus Capone]

   
This wraps up my need to both characterize and analyze why Ian attracts me and repels me at the same time. My dad, a noticeably intelligent graduate of the 8th grade, would have called him an educated idiot. 

I certainly don't think that he's an idiot, but he does need to let his guests speak more. There are times when his questions sound like speeches.

[Gassy Man]

You guys are on point about Ian's shortcomings . . . he impresses me on occasion when he jumps somebody for flaws in reasoning or position, but most of the time he seems to be wanting to host a book club rather than a talk show . . . it's like some horrible nightmare where he's got us trapped in his rec room, pontificating at us while scarfing s'mores and Snapple and spouting of nerdy Gen-X quips .

[PB the Deplorable]

Ian sucks as thoroughly as George Noory does - I quit listening to him before I quit George's show.  The maddening thing about Ian is that he can do a great show, and has.  For some reason - perhaps no longer able to surpress his anger - awhile back he made a decision to no longer be a good host, but to instead be an ass.

Ian is a bully.  What's his worst quality - the condescension, the intentionally awful puns and other cleverness caried over from when he was in 8th grade, his pretensiousness, the need to always be right, shutting down anyone that disagrees with him, or even worse - anyone that brings up something he didn't think of. 

I hate it when he uses the secondary - proper, but not common - pronunciation of words, for example he'll pronounce Pharaoh as 'Fay-row', instead of the commonly used 'Fair-oh'.  Or when he digs up some long-ass word that no one ever uses or knows, tosses it into a sentence then sits back glowing, smug, all proud of himself.  Idiot.  Ian is a turd.


All those guests, The Man That Thinks He's A Horse.  Zombie wars.  The disgusting opportunistic 'channeling' of Michael Jackson just hours after he died.  Shows on dirt, flotsam (or was it jetsome).  These are 'in your face' shows disigned to piss off people that once listened to Coast.  Yeah Ian, got a lot out of those.


George Knapp should be embarassed sharing a nicrophone with either Ian or George Noory.

[Morgus]

What about Ian's fascination with regular updates on the 40 year old DB Cooper skyjacking case? 

[beachcomber]

No kidding you lucked out!

Ana

In the 70's I was visiting a co-worker who worked 3rd shift with me and lived in the next State. It was early morning, and as I rounded a curve in my VW Bug - I noticed there was a vehicle check point set up just  ahead. There were 2 cops manning the operation,  a yellow Corvette had been  stopped  ahead of me and one of the troopers was standing at the window of the guy's car . My cop was interested in whether my horn worked, and wanted me to turn on the windshield washers and wipers. Now in that year of VW, the washer fluid was squirted onto the windshield by a weird arrangement where the air in the spare tire in the front shot the juice onto the glass by air pressure through a small hose. No kidding. Mine wasn't working but I had a bottle of windshield washing fluid that I manually used (arm out the window).
Now the cop was leaning down - grinning behind his mirror shades - his face inches outside my open window and asked me "What have you been smoking in there?"
"I smoke a pipe but I don't have it with me", I said  (trying not to flash on a movie character - The Walking Boss in Cool Hand Luke) which was true. However I did have a small amount of a controlled substance in my pocket. I wasn't worried yet but I might have been soon, when suddenly
The guy in the Corvette  gunned his Yellow Shark and took off like a shot down the road. He was fleeing a vehicle check! My cop lost interest in the longhair he was hassling and both officers jumped into their cruisers and gave chase. I passed them about a mile and a half down the road where the cop was jumping up and down, shouting and  waving his arms while the 'Vette driver stood leaning against his car smoking a cigarette.

Ian gave a young caller advice on how to get started  hosting a talk radio show. he said "If you can't talk for 3 hours alone without a guest, you aren't ready to host a show."
What does this say about his tendancy to dominate the conversation, I wonder.

[Eddie Coyle]

     The ending to Electra Glide in Blue does always give me a bit of a chuckle,I must admit.

     It's an obscure reference, but I know somebody out there knows what I mean...

[PB the Deplorable]

What about Ian's fascination with regular updates on the 40 year old DB Cooper skyjacking case? 

Beats comic book updates... I grew up in that area so I'm sort of more interested than probably someone else tuning in to that.   He sure seems desperate to 'break' some news on something, anything, though.  Why nopt just lie about it like George Noory, just tell the audience you're always breaking news.

[PB the Deplorable]

Probably the most annoying thing Ian does is talk over callers, trying to get them to agree that his opinion or some thought he has is just the smartest most interesting thing they've ever heard. 

He gets frustrated when they insist on continuing with their train of thought, trying to put their opinion of some aspect they've thought of about something out there.  Ian dumps the call and then claim he 'just wanted to have a conversation', when in fact he wouldn't let them speak more than about 2 words at a time. 

[PB the Deplorable]

I'll never forget the time he came on with George to tease the next nights show, and in his usual condescending voice, trying to sound like the ultimate authority as usual, he blathers out the nonsensical stuff about 'threatening the hoover' and everone having 'their own heat'. 

'Eh, eh, exactly', replied George Noory.